The fierce 48-hour gunbattle on the outskirts of Srinagar ended on Monday evening. Three heavily-armed terrorists, holed up in a government building situated along the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, were killed.
“The encounter has ended and three militants who had taken refuge inside the building have been killed,” a police official said about the incident in Pampore. An Army official, overseeing the operation, also said that three terrorists were killed in the five-storey building of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) and ‘war-like’ stores, including arms and ammunition had been recovered.
Speaking to the press, Major General Arvind Dutta said that they worked out a plan to localise and neutralise the terrorists after an attempt to enter the building was foiled.
The CRPF attempted to enter the building. However, as soon as they did, the terrorists threw a grenade, forcing the party to withdraw. We didn’t know their location, and they had a number of vantage points occupied. The team, which included Captain Pawan Kumar, did a marvelous job. I salute the martyrs. Their motto is ‘sacrifice’ and they lived up to it.Major General Arvind Dutta
He added that it was possible that there were more attackers, but the three men they were aware of had been killed. He also said that it was possible that the attackers had conducted a recce.
A combing operation to sanitise the building, which has 44 rooms in addition to lobbies, washrooms and a restaurant on the top floor, is underway. The operation, which began on Saturday evening, saw five security force personnel including two Captains of elite commando units, sacrifice their lives. The terrorists are suspected to be of foreign origin. A civilian was killed in the crossfire between the two sides while 120 civilians were evacuated safely.
(With agency inputs)
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